Sock It To Your Finish

Finishing had never been my best suit. Early on, I made a beautiful piece of furniture and ruined the appearance with the finish. I prefer using a poly finish on furniture to harden the surface. Even after putting on a number of coats of poly and sanding in between, the surface was rough and appeared blotchy.

Well, one day I was cleaning out the old sock drawer and trying to avoid throwing out the old socks if they had a use. It so happens that I was working on finishing a new project, and I decided to take one of the old cotton socks and slice it open. I then folded it in on itself a few time and got it into a stout 3″ X 2″ rectangle. Then I looked around on how to secure it for finishing and I noted a 2″ ADCO Binder Clip, the kind for holding a large amount of loose papers.

This contraption worked great for applying a very controllable amount of poly into a very thin finish coat and gave a hand-wiped appearance that was even throughout. I’ve been using this technique for years and have been happy with my finishes ever since.